A.W.A.D. - "I Didn't Know There Was a Word for That!"

with Anu Garg

There are two times in life when we are most likely to be lost for words: when we're happiest and when we're saddest. For other occasions, we can usually think of a word. With such a large wordstock in its coffers, the English language is at the ready to supply just the right word.
Stock up your verbal reserve with these week's words, words that may make you say, "I didn't know there was a word for it!"

perendinate
PRONUNCIATION: (puh-REN-di-nayt)
MEANING: verb tr.: To put off until the day after tomorrow.verb intr.: To stay at a college for an extended time.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin perendinare (to defer until the day after tomorrow), from perendie (on the day after tomorrow), from dies (day)

moirologist
PRONUNCIATION: (moy-ROL-uh-jist)
MEANING: noun: A hired mourner

NOTES: There are some things in life money can't buy, for everything else, there's Mastercard. With the right credit card you could even hire mourners for your funeral or find the right sentiment.

While researching this word, I came across websites that offer "eulogy packs". One such site lists a "Mother's Eulogy pack" that includes "9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus". Only $25.95 -- have your credit card ready. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97.

Let's not be too smug and look down upon those who buy these packs. When we go to the neighborhood card store to buy a greeting card or a sympathy card, we're also hiring someone to package words to help us convey our feelings.

Professional mourners are not a new thing either -- there's a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners' strike in Paris. Then there is claque, a group of people hired to applaud a performer at a show.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek moira (fate, death) + logos (word)

prosopagnosia
PRONUNCIATION: (pros-uh-pag-NO-see-uh)
MEANING: noun: Inability to recognize familiar faces.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek prosopon (face, mask), from pros- (near) + opon (face), from ops (eye) + agnosia (ignorance). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know) that is also the source of know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, and normal.

NOTES: Prosopagnosia is also known as face blindness, usually a result of brain injury. People suffering from it cannot recognize familiar faces, even their own. A book on this and related topics is neurologist Oliver Sacks's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
Prosopagnosiacs' motto: We don't take people at face value.
xanthodontous
PRONUNCIATION: (zan-tho-DON-tuhs)
MEANING: adjective: Having yellow teeth

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek xanthos (yellow) + -odon (toothed)
borborygmus
PRONUNCIATION:(bor-buh-RIG-muhs)
MEANING: noun: A rumbling noise caused by the movement of gas through the intestines
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek borborygmos (intestinal rumbling), an onomatopoeiac word to describe the sound

NOTES: Borborygmi are usually harmless, they are simply a result of gas movement around the stomach. And the rumbling sound doesn't mean one is hungry either. We can't really do anything about the sound of a stomach growling, but we can take comfort in the fact that at least we know a fancy word to describe it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interesting Aftermath a From Season Five of "MasterChef"

A.W.A.D. - 14-Letter Words, 14-Letter Definitions

An Interesting Wife Swap...